Have a .org Website? Time to Comment on Proposal that Could Increase Domain Prices

ANCOR is sharing this article by ASAE, of which we are a member, because many of our members are non-profits whose website addresses end in .org. The proposal detailed below could affect their budget planning for future years.

As written by ASAE:

“Associations and other tax-exempt groups could find it a lot more costly in the future to renew .org top-level domain names if a new contract proposed by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is approved.

ICANN, the entity that currently manages over 180 million domain names and four billion network addresses on the Internet, has proposed lifting price caps on .org and .info domains. This means that tax-exempt organizations could be paying domain registrars thousands of dollars in fees per year to maintain domain names.

The .org top-level domain (TLD) is used by most associations and other tax-exempt organizations. There are more than 10 million .org domain names registered.

The current contract allows domain registrars to increase prices by 10 percent per year. In announcing the proposed new contract, ICANN said the change “takes into consideration the maturation of the domain name market and the goal of treating the registry operator equitably…”

The proposed contract allows “protections for existing registrants” to remain in place, meaning existing registrants can renew their domain names for up to 10 years at current prices before price hikes take effect.

ICANN is accepting public comments on the proposed new contract for .org registries until April 29, 2019.”